1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for transferring information to data terminals via networks, and more particularly to a network system having a server capable of transferring information to various data terminals which are different in capabilities or features from each other, in a manner appropriate to each data terminal.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a network system with a client-server architecture, a plurality of client data terminals generally connect via networks to one or more servers which may be in a central facility of a network organization, such as an Internet service provider. The network organization is thus able to supply services to the data terminals via the networks.
In a conventional network system, most data terminals are stand-alone personal computers (xe2x80x9cPCsxe2x80x9d) capable of communicating over the network. Each PC is enabled to receive information from the server by running programs capable of communicating with the server. In the case of the World Wide Web, for example, once the PC is provided with a Web browser program that can communicate with the server, the PC can always scan, receive and display hypertext markup language (HTML) documents from the World Wide Web via the networks.
Recently, small, and relatively simple (compared to the PC) data terminals have come into use as the client component in network environments. Such terminals include electronic diaries, personal digital assistants (xe2x80x9cPDAxe2x80x9d) and the like. These data terminals often employ a different visual user-interface having e.g. a different display size, a different number of colors to be displayed and the like, than the PC due to their reduced size and/or lower manufacturing cost. These data terminals, however, pose a problem in that they are not able to represent completely the information to be displayed because the information on the server is generally prepared for terminals with all the capabilities of the PC.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a network system, a server and a data terminal permitting supply of more complete information to diverse types of data terminals that may be less capable of receiving the information than the usual PC.
In order to achieve this and other objectives, the present invention provides an information transfer system using a network comprising a data terminal connected to the network and a central facility capable of connecting to a plurality of the data terminals which terminals may differ from each other in their capabilities. The data terminal includes code storing means for storing a code indicating the capability of the data terminal, and code transfer means for transferring the code stored in the code storing means to the network. The central facility advantageously includes code receiving means for receiving the code which is transferred from the data terminal through the network, discrimination means for discriminating the code received by the code receiving means and for detecting the capabilities of each data terminal, and information transfer means for transferring information to the data terminal in a manner appropriate to the terminal""s capability.
The present invention also provides a server capable of connecting a plurality of data terminals which may differ from each other in their capabilities and of transferring information to the data terminals using a network. This server advantageously comprises discrimination means for discriminating the capability of the data terminal which connects to the network, and information transfer means for transferring the information to the data terminal in an appropriate manner to the capability of the data terminal discriminated by the discrimination means.
The present invention also provides a data terminal capable of connecting to a network system including a server capable of connecting to a plurality of the data terminals, which terminals may differ from each other in their capability and of transferring information to the data terminals using a network. The data terminal advantageously comprises code transfer means for transferring a code which can discriminate the capability of the data terminal by the server to the server when the data terminal connects to the server.